Long, long ago in Korea there lived a poor blind nobleman and his wife. For many years they had no children. After faithfully praying to the spirits, the wife gave birth to a beautiful daughter, whom they named Shimchong. But the mother died after giving birth, and the blind father raised his daughter as best he could.
Shimchong was an obedient and devoted daughter who accompanied her father as soon as she could walk; she begged for gifts of food with him the moment she could speak. As the years passed, she became a beautiful young woman. One day when the father went out alone to beg he stumbled into a ditch. As he was struggling to get out and moaning that he couldn’t see where to go, he heard a voice call out to him: "Old man, your life is surely very difficult. I'm a Buddhist monk If you will give my temple 300 bushels of rice as a tribute to the Lord Buddha, we will pray that you can see again." The monk's gentle hands reached down and pulled him out of the ditch. The blind man was so thankful and so full of hope at these words that he said, “I will give your temple those 300 bags of rice! I promise.”
Later, when his high spirits faded, he remembered that he could not even give three bowls of rice — let alone 300 bushels—as an offering to the Buddha.
"Dear daughter," he said that evening after telling what happened during the day, "what shall I do? My heart was filled with hope. Other men push me aside or take away what people give me, but this monk was kind. All I wanted was to return his kindness. Something terrible might happen to us if I offend the Buddha." All night, Shimchong tossed and turned, wondering how she could help her father.
Around that time, the Dragon King of the sea got angry at the traders and sent bad weather to sink their ships. To calm the storm, the traders were looking for a beautiful maiden who could be sacrificed. At dawn, Shimchong went to the dock and offered herself in exchange for the 300 bushels of rice her father had offered to the monk. The captain of the trading boats happily agreed to arrange this.
When the boat headed out to sea, dark clouds appeared. The waves rose higher and higher, as if a dragon were pushing them up. The wind ripped the sails and the masts broke. The captain brought Shimchong out onto the deck, and she said a quiet prayer. She leapt overboard, and tears came to the sailors' eyes as they saw her bravery and devotion to help her father. The moment she disappeared under the waves, the waters became calm once again.
As Shimchong sank deeper and deeper, the water around her became very bright, and she discovered that she could breathe. She looked around her in wonder as the Dragon King's servants escorted her to a magnificent underwater palace.
For a while, she was happy there and she felt the spirit of her mother watching over her. But after a while she became homesick for the world of air and longed to see her dear father again. Her face grew sadder and sadder, and one day the Dragon King said to her, "Your unselfish devotion to your father is far greater than any other mortal I have known. My heart is touched, and as a reward for your devotion I will send you back to the world above." He transformed Shimchong into a lotus flower.
A giant white lotus blossom was found in the river along the coast, and the fishermen, awed by its beauty, decided to make this special flower that grows in the water a gift to the King. His Queen had died and he was lonely and sad. They hoped the flower would lift his spirits.
Seeing the special flower, the King's eyes lit up. He gave the fishermen a reward and put the flower in a place of honor in his castle where he could admire it every day. Each night the blossom would turn into Shimchong, and when morning light touched her, she would turn back into a flower.
One night the moon was shining bright; the King was restless and went into the room with the lotus flower. He wanted to see it in the moonlight, but instead he saw a woman who was so beautiful that it took his breath away. "Who are you?" he asked in surprise. "Are you a ghost or are you a real person?"
Shimchong tried to hide inside the flower, but it had disappeared. Gently, he asked her where she came from, but all she would say was that she had come from the sea. People greatly admire the lotus flower because it represents heavenly purity and beauty. The King saw these same qualities in Shimchong and asked her to be his bride. They spent happy days planning for a magnificent wedding.
One day he found her weeping in the garden. "My dear," he said, "I cannot bear to see your tears. Tell me your wish — any wish — and it shall be granted."
"There is only one thing I desire," Shimchong replied. "Let there be a great public banquet to celebrate our marriage, and let all the blind men of the Kingdom be invited to partake of the feast. That will make my heart glad."
The King honored his bride's strange request, and so from far and wide, from all corners of the kingdom, the blind beggar men were invited to the wedding feast. For three days they came to enjoy the fine foods, and each day Shimchong watched from behind her silk curtains, hoping to see her father among them.
On the last day, as the gates were closing the servants turned away a blind beggar. Shimchong took one last look and under the dirt and dust of his long journey she saw that the old man was her father. "Father!" she cried. "This is my dear father! Let him in!"
The old man nearly fell over as he heard the familiar voice. "Oh, Shimchong!" he called. "Is it a ghost or has the dead come to life? Is that my daughter's voice that I hear? Let's have a look at you!"
The old beggar opened his eyes wide, forgetting his blindness, and suddenly he could see. Standing before him was his daughter, more beautiful than he had even imagined. He wept with joy and embraced her, and she cried in his arms. There was happy rejoicing throughout the palace as the story of the devoted daughter became known, and it is said that every blind man there who longed to see such a devoted daughter had his vision restored that day.
Trust Walk
Supplies needed:
Scarves or strips of cloth
Explanation: If you are blind, you have to depend on someone else to help you get where you need to go. Suppose you had to live this way all your life. This trust walk exercise will give you an opportunity to experience this for a few short minutes.
Activity: Have students form pairs. Tie a scarf over one person’s eyes and have the partner lead him or her around the room or playground by the hand. Suggestion: make the course a little challenging but not risky. After a few minutes, tell the partners to change roles.
Discussion: Invite comments about how it felt to be led around and how it felt to be responsible to lead someone around. Invite comments about the importance of trust in family relationships.
Draw with a Partner
Supplies needed:
sheets of paper
drawing materials
Have students pair up and assign each pair a scene from the story. First, ask the students to discuss how they envision the people, their relationship, and the setting. Then have them work together to draw their scene. Suggestion: blindfold one partner and have him or her hold the pen or other drawing materials. Have the other partner hold the blindfolded person's hand to draw part of the scene; then have them switch roles.
Depending on the number of students, choose from the following scenes:
The Father and Mother with the new baby
The Father caring for Shimchong when she was young
The Father and Shimchong begging
The Father and the Buddhist monk
The Father telling Shimchong about the monk’s request
Shimchong offering herself to the merchants
Shimchong speaking to the captain of the ship
Shimchong jumping into the water
The Dragon King bringing Shimchong to his palace
The fishermen discovering the lotus flower
The King meeting Shimchong
The King and Shimchong getting married
The Servants looking for blind beggar
Shimchong recognizing her Father
Questions for discussion: How did you plan your drawings? When your partner moved your hand to make the drawing, how did you feel about the result?
Guess Which Scene
Choose one pair to act out the relationship in their scene without using words. The others try to guess which scene they are acting out. The first person to get the right answer comes forward with his or her partner, and they act out the scene they drew. Repeat until all the scenes have been acted out.
Narrative
Have one person read the story, and as the scene is told, each pair of artists comes forward and lines up, holding their drawings of that scene.
Discussion: What similarities do you notice in the drawings? What differences do you see? What new insights do you get from how people drew the scenes? Written by Joy Pople, Director of Publications, Universal Peace Federation
Story
Table of Contents
Shimchong was an obedient and devoted daughter who accompanied her father as soon as she could walk; she begged for gifts of food with him the moment she could speak. As the years passed, she became a beautiful young woman. One day when the father went out alone to beg he stumbled into a ditch. As he was struggling to get out and moaning that he couldn’t see where to go, he heard a voice call out to him: "Old man, your life is surely very difficult. I'm a Buddhist monk If you will give my temple 300 bushels of rice as a tribute to the Lord Buddha, we will pray that you can see again." The monk's gentle hands reached down and pulled him out of the ditch. The blind man was so thankful and so full of hope at these words that he said, “I will give your temple those 300 bags of rice! I promise.”
Later, when his high spirits faded, he remembered that he could not even give three bowls of rice — let alone 300 bushels—as an offering to the Buddha.
"Dear daughter," he said that evening after telling what happened during the day, "what shall I do? My heart was filled with hope. Other men push me aside or take away what people give me, but this monk was kind. All I wanted was to return his kindness. Something terrible might happen to us if I offend the Buddha." All night, Shimchong tossed and turned, wondering how she could help her father.
Around that time, the Dragon King of the sea got angry at the traders and sent bad weather to sink their ships. To calm the storm, the traders were looking for a beautiful maiden who could be sacrificed. At dawn, Shimchong went to the dock and offered herself in exchange for the 300 bushels of rice her father had offered to the monk. The captain of the trading boats happily agreed to arrange this.
When the boat headed out to sea, dark clouds appeared. The waves rose higher and higher, as if a dragon were pushing them up. The wind ripped the sails and the masts broke. The captain brought Shimchong out onto the deck, and she said a quiet prayer. She leapt overboard, and tears came to the sailors' eyes as they saw her bravery and devotion to help her father. The moment she disappeared under the waves, the waters became calm once again.
As Shimchong sank deeper and deeper, the water around her became very bright, and she discovered that she could breathe. She looked around her in wonder as the Dragon King's servants escorted her to a magnificent underwater palace.
For a while, she was happy there and she felt the spirit of her mother watching over her. But after a while she became homesick for the world of air and longed to see her dear father again. Her face grew sadder and sadder, and one day the Dragon King said to her, "Your unselfish devotion to your father is far greater than any other mortal I have known. My heart is touched, and as a reward for your devotion I will send you back to the world above." He transformed Shimchong into a lotus flower.
A giant white lotus blossom was found in the river along the coast, and the fishermen, awed by its beauty, decided to make this special flower that grows in the water a gift to the King. His Queen had died and he was lonely and sad. They hoped the flower would lift his spirits.
Seeing the special flower, the King's eyes lit up. He gave the fishermen a reward and put the flower in a place of honor in his castle where he could admire it every day. Each night the blossom would turn into Shimchong, and when morning light touched her, she would turn back into a flower.
One night the moon was shining bright; the King was restless and went into the room with the lotus flower. He wanted to see it in the moonlight, but instead he saw a woman who was so beautiful that it took his breath away. "Who are you?" he asked in surprise. "Are you a ghost or are you a real person?"
Shimchong tried to hide inside the flower, but it had disappeared. Gently, he asked her where she came from, but all she would say was that she had come from the sea. People greatly admire the lotus flower because it represents heavenly purity and beauty. The King saw these same qualities in Shimchong and asked her to be his bride. They spent happy days planning for a magnificent wedding.
One day he found her weeping in the garden. "My dear," he said, "I cannot bear to see your tears. Tell me your wish — any wish — and it shall be granted."
"There is only one thing I desire," Shimchong replied. "Let there be a great public banquet to celebrate our marriage, and let all the blind men of the Kingdom be invited to partake of the feast. That will make my heart glad."
The King honored his bride's strange request, and so from far and wide, from all corners of the kingdom, the blind beggar men were invited to the wedding feast. For three days they came to enjoy the fine foods, and each day Shimchong watched from behind her silk curtains, hoping to see her father among them.
On the last day, as the gates were closing the servants turned away a blind beggar. Shimchong took one last look and under the dirt and dust of his long journey she saw that the old man was her father. "Father!" she cried. "This is my dear father! Let him in!"
The old man nearly fell over as he heard the familiar voice. "Oh, Shimchong!" he called. "Is it a ghost or has the dead come to life? Is that my daughter's voice that I hear? Let's have a look at you!"
The old beggar opened his eyes wide, forgetting his blindness, and suddenly he could see. Standing before him was his daughter, more beautiful than he had even imagined. He wept with joy and embraced her, and she cried in his arms. There was happy rejoicing throughout the palace as the story of the devoted daughter became known, and it is said that every blind man there who longed to see such a devoted daughter had his vision restored that day.
Trust Walk
Supplies needed:Explanation: If you are blind, you have to depend on someone else to help you get where you need to go. Suppose you had to live this way all your life. This trust walk exercise will give you an opportunity to experience this for a few short minutes.
Activity: Have students form pairs. Tie a scarf over one person’s eyes and have the partner lead him or her around the room or playground by the hand. Suggestion: make the course a little challenging but not risky. After a few minutes, tell the partners to change roles.
Discussion: Invite comments about how it felt to be led around and how it felt to be responsible to lead someone around. Invite comments about the importance of trust in family relationships.
Draw with a Partner
Supplies needed:Have students pair up and assign each pair a scene from the story. First, ask the students to discuss how they envision the people, their relationship, and the setting. Then have them work together to draw their scene. Suggestion: blindfold one partner and have him or her hold the pen or other drawing materials. Have the other partner hold the blindfolded person's hand to draw part of the scene; then have them switch roles.
Depending on the number of students, choose from the following scenes:
Questions for discussion: How did you plan your drawings? When your partner moved your hand to make the drawing, how did you feel about the result?
Guess Which Scene
Choose one pair to act out the relationship in their scene without using words. The others try to guess which scene they are acting out. The first person to get the right answer comes forward with his or her partner, and they act out the scene they drew. Repeat until all the scenes have been acted out.Narrative
Have one person read the story, and as the scene is told, each pair of artists comes forward and lines up, holding their drawings of that scene.Discussion: What similarities do you notice in the drawings? What differences do you see? What new insights do you get from how people drew the scenes?
Written by Joy Pople, Director of Publications, Universal Peace Federation
Resources
For a comparison between “Shimcheong” and “Beauty and the Beast,” click here.Promotional video about the Universal Ballet Company's production of Shim Chung
Comments
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